Penn State News - Mercedes Richardshttp://www.psu.edu/
en-usPenn State University Relationsnews@psu.edu (Penn State News)Penn State community mourns loss of professor Mercedes Richardshttp://news.psu.edu/story/392385/2016/02/05/penn-state-community-mourns-loss-professor-mercedes-richards
The Eberly College of Science and the Penn State community mourn the loss of Mercedes Richards, professor of astronomy and astrophysics, who died Feb. 3.
http://news.psu.edu/story/392385/2016/02/05/penn-state-community-mourns-loss-professor-mercedes-richardsFri, 05 Feb 2016 17:00 -0500Penn State News - Mercedes RichardsRichards honored as Woman Physicist of the Month by American Physical Societyhttp://news.psu.edu/story/281844/2013/07/16/academics/richards-honored-woman-physicist-month-american-physical-society
Mercedes Richards, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State, is being honored as the July 2013 Woman Physicist of the Month by the American Physical Society. Richards studies close pairs of stars, called interacting binaries, which are pairs of stars that were formed at the same time, like twins, but in which each star matures at different rates and affects the evolution of its companion. Richards was lauded for her research on the dynamic interactions between close binary stars by the society's Committee on the Status of Women in Physics. In particular, the committee cited her research involving 2-D and 3-D Doppler tomography for measuring the flow of material between the stars in these paired systems and her hydrodynamic simulations of the gas flowing between the paired stars.
http://news.psu.edu/story/281844/2013/07/16/academics/richards-honored-woman-physicist-month-american-physical-societyTue, 16 Jul 2013 09:02 -0400Penn State News - Mercedes RichardsRichards named president of international astronomical commissionhttp://news.psu.edu/story/145515/2012/10/17/academics/richards-named-president-international-astronomical-commission
Mercedes Richards, a Penn State professor of astronomy and astrophysics, has been elected to a three-year term as president of the International Astronomical Union Commission 42 on Close Binary Stars, one of the largest commissions. Richards served as vice president of the commission from 2009 to 2012.
http://news.psu.edu/story/145515/2012/10/17/academics/richards-named-president-international-astronomical-commissionWed, 17 Oct 2012 15:08 -0400Penn State News - Mercedes RichardsMercedes Richards Receives Fulbright Awardhttp://news.psu.edu/story/164343/2010/09/29/academics/mercedes-richards-receives-fulbright-award
Mercedes Richards, a Penn State professor of astronomy and astrophysics, has received a Fulbright Distinguished Chairs Research Scholar award to conduct research at the Astronomical Institute in Slovakia during the 2010-11 academic year. According to the United States Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, Richards is one of approximately 1,100 U.S. faculty and professionals who will travel abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program in 2010-2011.
http://news.psu.edu/story/164343/2010/09/29/academics/mercedes-richards-receives-fulbright-awardWed, 29 Sep 2010 10:22 -0400Penn State News - Mercedes RichardsStellar Detective: A profile of professor Mercedes Richardshttp://news.psu.edu/story/141653/2009/08/05/research/stellar-detective-profile-professor-mercedes-richards
A Profile of Mercedes Richards
http://news.psu.edu/story/141653/2009/08/05/research/stellar-detective-profile-professor-mercedes-richardsWed, 05 Aug 2009 (All day) -0400Penn State News - Mercedes RichardsPluto and the Dwarfs: A New Design for Our Solar Systemhttp://news.psu.edu/story/141140/2009/03/30/research/pluto-and-dwarfs-new-design-our-solar-system
On Wednesday, March 25th, Mercedes Richards, professor of astrophysics and astronomy, led a lively discussion about our constantly changing solar system, at the second event of Research Unplugged's spring 2009 season. Richards explained that since astronomers are always making new developments and discoveries, it is necessary to frequently redefine planets and other aspects of our solar system.
http://news.psu.edu/story/141140/2009/03/30/research/pluto-and-dwarfs-new-design-our-solar-systemMon, 30 Mar 2009 (All day) -0400Penn State News - Mercedes RichardsA Conversation with Mercedes Richardshttp://news.psu.edu/story/141141/2009/03/30/research/conversation-mercedes-richards
How did you first become interested in your specialty?
http://news.psu.edu/story/141141/2009/03/30/research/conversation-mercedes-richardsMon, 30 Mar 2009 (All day) -0400Penn State News - Mercedes RichardsHeard on Campus: Mercedes Richards on 'Pluto and the Dwarfs'http://news.psu.edu/story/178175/2009/03/25/heard-campus-mercedes-richards-pluto-and-dwarfs
"The decision was made that a planet must have a nice, circular-like orbit about the sun, it clearly cannot be a moon, it has to have a nearly round shape, and it must have cleared the region near the orbit." -- Mercedes Richards, professor, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, on the "demotion" of Pluto from planet to dwarf planet by a vote of the International Astronomical Union in Prague in 2006.
http://news.psu.edu/story/178175/2009/03/25/heard-campus-mercedes-richards-pluto-and-dwarfsWed, 25 Mar 2009 16:13 -0400Penn State News - Mercedes RichardsProbing Question: Why did Pluto get demoted?http://news.psu.edu/story/141294/2006/12/11/research/probing-question-why-did-pluto-get-demoted
Word came down in stages this summer. First, the rumor that our long-exclusive planetary club was ready to expand—not only renewing Pluto's status, but adding three new members in the bargain. The world's astronomers seemed to be sending a message of inclusion: There's always room for one more.
http://news.psu.edu/story/141294/2006/12/11/research/probing-question-why-did-pluto-get-demotedMon, 11 Dec 2006 (All day) -0500Penn State News - Mercedes RichardsWhat Flares May Tellhttp://news.psu.edu/story/140777/2004/05/01/research/what-flares-may-tell
"This is a flare," says Mercedes Richards. She holds up a photograph of a glowing sphere—a star with a flaming, orange arch leaping out from its surface. "It's an enormous event on a star," says Richards, professor of astronomy and astro-physics at Penn State. "Normally gas flows in a loop like this one, but sometimes the energy is released. Imagine a pair of scissors snipping the top of the arc. When the scissors snip, the gas flows right out into space."
http://news.psu.edu/story/140777/2004/05/01/research/what-flares-may-tellSat, 01 May 2004 (All day) -0400Penn State News - Mercedes Richards